


Brothers and Sisters

by rockinmomoko



Series: Sun and Moon [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s01e15 Bato of the Water Tribe, F/M, Gen, How Kanna ended up with the Gaang, Kanna Needs a Hug, OC-centric, POV Multiple, Protective Siblings, Sibling Love, Sokka is a good brother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockinmomoko/pseuds/rockinmomoko
Summary: “It’s your job to take care of them,” She’d continued as if Kanna hadn’t interrupted. “Of course, Gran-Gran will help if she can, but you’re the older sister. Just like you need to protect them, you need to take care of them. Promise me, Kanna, that you’ll always protect and take care of your younger brother and sister.”All Sokka wants to do is protect his family, but how can he protect the older sister that's been kept from him for ten years?
Relationships: Katara & Original Female Character(s), Katara & Sokka (Avatar), Kya (Avatar) & Original Female Character(s), Sokka (Avatar) & Original Female Character(s), Zuko (Avatar)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Sun and Moon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859098
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Brothers and Sisters

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally just supposed to be Kanna's POV but all I could get out of her was a paragraph or two. Then I decided that since this episode is pretty Sokka centric anyway I'd try some of it from his perspective and lo and behold it worked. They played off each other and I was able to actually finish it.
> 
> This whole series is inspired by Embers by Vathara and Tempest in a Teacup by AkaVertigo. I'm going to stop linking them in the fics, so to find them look at the notes for Escape and Frozen in Memory
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar

Sokka’s mind was racing as he and Katara fell to the ground. He couldn’t move a muscle! Whatever that animal was, it had paralyzed him with its tongue. He wasn’t sure how they’d get out of this but he knew they couldn’t let Zuko find Aang.

The beast came closer, the unfamiliar lady on its back saying something about it ‘seeking a different scent,’ whatever that meant. It nosed the map out of his pack and took a long sniff. It whipped its head around for a couple moments before seeming to focus in on something.

“He’s latched onto the Avatar’s scent. Let’s get going.” Zuko moved to pick them up and place them on the animal’s back and Sokka tensed. There was nothing he could do to stop it but he couldn’t stand the thought of being held prisoner by Zuko. And he _definitely_ didn’t like the idea of Katara being in the same position. It was bad enough they hadn’t found a way to free Kanna; there was no way he was going to fail his younger sister, too.

Before Zuko could actually pick them up, though, Kanna spoke up from where she was sitting on the animal’s back.

“Just prop them along the side of the road. You don’t need to take them prisoner. You have the Avatar’s scent and there’s no reason to take them. Just let them go.”

“Let them go? They’re the Avatar’s friends, I _can’t_ ‘just let them go’! They’ll find a way to help him!” Zuko yelled. Kanna just sighed and jumped off the animal. She knelt and Sokka felt cool water brush against his skin. She shifted and Sokka assumed she’d done the same thing to Katara. He didn’t know what she was doing with the water but she seemed to be checking to make sure they were okay. It warmed him all the way down to his toes to see proof that she still cared about them.

Once she was done with her check-up Kanna stood and turned to face Zuko. Sokka wished he could see what was going on, but he could only see the side of the road he was lying down on. Katara groaned next to him and his worry spiked. Had she been more injured in their fall than he’d thought? He hoped not, but there was nothing he could do about it right now. He focused on listening to Kanna and Zuko argue.

“They’ll be paralyzed for a while longer, June said the shirshu’s saliva would last an hour. That gives us plenty of time to get a head start.”

“It could take us longer than an hour to find him. And, if they know where he’s going, they may know a shortcut to get to him faster. No, it’s too much of a risk.”

“Zuko. Please. They’re my brother and sister. Don’t take them prisoner; let them go.”

Zuko sighed and Sokka was surprised by how resigned his voice sounded when he spoke again. “I know, Kanna, and I’m sorry about that, but I can’t. Help me move them.”

Kanna didn’t respond but she did move to lift Katara and place her on the shirshu’s back. Once he and Katara were situated to Zuko’s liking the other two got on themselves. No one spoke for the whole ride back to the Abbey.

~~~

Kanna hated this. She hated it so much. She guessed she could understand Zuko’s point, that it could potentially be a hazard to leave Sokka and Katara behind, but all she could think is that she needed to protect them. They were her younger siblings! She couldn’t stand the thought of them being prisoners of the Fire Nation.

Years and years ago, back before that fateful day when the Fire Nation had attacked her tribe, her mom had sat down across from her in their igloo while Sokka and Katara were outside playing. Kanna was streaming the water in a bowl in front of her as best she could, and her mom had simply watched her for a moment before speaking.

“Kanna, I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“Okay, Mom, what is it?” She remembered being surprised by how serious her mom had looked and sounded, so she’d stopped playing with the water and moved the bowl to the side.

“You’re old enough to know about the war, and about how they used to raid our village all the time.”

Kanna had nodded. That was where the old Fire Nation ship had come from that they were forbidden from getting close to. Her mom continued, voice soft but with an undercurrent of steel.

“There haven’t been any raids in years, but that doesn’t mean they won’t happen again.” Again, Kanna had nodded. She didn’t understand where this was going, but she knew that it had to be important. She’d always known, vaguely, that it was possible for the Fire Nation to attack again, but hearing her mom say it bluntly like that was different. It made it seem more real. “When the Fire Nation attacks, there’s no guarantee of what will happen. Your job is to protect your younger siblings. You already know you’re supposed to take care of them as their older sister, but this is very important. If there’s a raid, you need to get Sokka and Katara and find a place to hide.”

“But, Mom, I could help! My waterbending—”

“No, Kanna.” Her voice had brooked no argument and Kanna had fallen silent. “If there’s a raid you will hide your siblings and yourself. And absolutely no waterbending. It’s too dangerous.”

“If you say so, Mom” she had grumbled, but she meant it and her mom could tell. She nodded.

“One more thing. If something happens to me, or your dad, or both of us—”

“Mom!”

“It’s your job to take care of them,” She’d continued as if Kanna hadn’t interrupted. “Of course, Gran-Gran will help if she can, but you’re the older sister. Just like you need to protect them, you need to take care of them. Promise me, Kanna, that you’ll always protect and take care of your younger brother and sister.”

Kanna had agreed, and her mom had enveloped her in a warm, comforting hug. Kanna had felt that sense of _tribe_ and _family_ strengthen and took comfort in knowing that she would always be able to rely on both. Little had she known how quickly her mother’s fears would come to pass.

Now, years later, Kanna felt like she’d failed. Not only had she not been able to protect her siblings ten years ago when she’d been taken, she’d failed to protect them from the Fire Nation more than once since she’d found them again. Sure, there were other complications, nothing was that simple, but still. She had failed, and now Sokka and Katara were prisoners.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she gritted her teeth, trying to blink them away. In front of her, Zuko seemed to realize how upset she was and turned slightly towards her with an apologetic look on his face. He tentatively reached a hand back and she grimaced. She wasn’t sure if she was still mad at him or not. Before she could change her mind, she took his hand and he pulled her arm around him so she was giving him half a hug from behind. She wound her other arm around him and huffed as she scooted ever so slightly closer.

His whispered, “I’m sorry,” had her dropping her head to his shoulder to hide the tears that had started to slip out against her will. The hand that was still intertwined with hers tightened its grip and she took a deep breath. Everything would work out. It had to.

~~~

Sokka did his best to follow the fight, but it was difficult when he couldn’t move and Aang and Zuko kept jumping up on rooftops. He did notice that Kanna and Zuko’s uncle seemed to be doing their best to stay out of the way of both fights. While he didn’t understand why the old man wasn’t helping his nephew, he appreciated the Kanna wasn’t fighting alongside Zuko. And he could understand why she didn’t try to help Aang. She probably didn’t want to do anything her captors wouldn’t like, afraid of what they’d do in response. Anger flared at the thought but he pushed it down. Now wasn’t the time to focus on that.

One of the sisters came out with a perfume that seemed to counteract whatever the animal – the shirshu – had done to them. It gave him an idea. The shirshu didn’t have eyes, it seemed to rely completely on its sense of smell to get around. He could definitely work with that.

He outlined his plan to the others and they all hurried to set it up. Soon, Katara was bending several large pots’ worth of perfume straight onto the shirshu. Just in time, too, since it seemed like Aang had been trapped by both the animal and Zuko. Once it had been doused in the perfume the shirshu started panicking. It hit both Zuko and its owner, June, he thought Kanna had said, with its tongue, paralyzing them immediately. Sokka smirked at that. Serves them right, to get a taste of their own medicine. As it ran around the courtyard it knocked into more jars and pots, making the situation worse.

Right before it crashed into another wall, the shirshu desperately shot its tongue out one last time. It got lucky and Sokka saw Kanna go down. Sokka cursed. He knew that it wasn’t going to hurt her anymore than it had him or Katara, but he still didn’t like it. Aang and Katara were already on Appa and were impatiently motioning for him to get on so they could escape.

He moved to join them before stopping. He turned around and ran back across the courtyard towards Kanna. He heard the other two calling his name but he ignored them. Kanna was his sister, and he had the opportunity to save her from the Fire Nation. He at least had to try.

~~~

There were arms wrapping around Kanna’s waist. Unfamiliar arms. She tried to struggle against them, but her body wouldn’t respond. The shirshu saliva had paralyzed her before it had gone down and she hadn’t recovered yet. She searched frantically for Zuko only to see him equally paralyzed. Their eyes met and she could see matching panic there. Even though his body was equally unresponsive, she knew he was trying to reach her as well. Whoever was holding her was now lifting and dragging her backwards, away from the Abbey. She looked wildly around, trying to figure out who could be doing this before she caught a glimpse of blue out of the corner of her eye. Her heart dropped. Her captor finally seemed to notice her panic, but clearly misunderstood the reason.

“It’s okay, Kanna, it’s me, Sokka. We’re finally getting you away from those awful firebenders. Now you’ll be free to help us! We can finally be a family again.” Kanna’s heart broke a little at the hope in her brother’s voice, but she knew it was more complicated than that. She knew she was straddling the line between the two sides of her family and tribe; the one side had her husband and the man she viewed as her father, who she had spent most of her life with, and on the other side were her siblings who she still loved and wanted to protect, even if she hadn’t seen them in a decade.

She opened her mouth to object but felt herself being placed in the bison’s saddle, against an edge so it was as if she was sitting. The Avatar commanded the bison to fly using that inane catchphrase. Yip-yip. Honestly. She forced herself to turn her head and gazed down at the Abbey. If she focused, she could see a dark red spot marking where Zuko was laying, with another reddish spot that was probably Iroh. She was already too far away to get back to them safely, and she knew there was no way that the three she was with would agree to take her back.

Katara moved closer to her, a small jar in her hand. She waved it under Kanna’s nose, and the scent brought her feeling back completely. She immediately sat up straight and rubbed her arms, trying to rub away the pins and needles feeling left behind by the shirshu saliva. She was immediately pulled into a three-way hug with her younger siblings. She returned the hug tightly. Even if she was upset about being separated from Zuko, she _had_ missed them.

After they separated Aang asked where he was going to take them and Kanna was unsurprised to hear the North Pole. Her stomach flipped, however when she heard they were considering going to see her father, Hakoda. Sokka gave her an apologetic look but she just gave him a small smile, the most she could manage at that moment. Aang grinned.

“Well, Sokka definitely wins the best surprise gift this time around, but maybe you’ll like this, too?” Both Sokka and Katara rolled their eyes but they were grinning. He was holding out a familiar object and Kanna’s breath caught, her hand automatically going to her own throat.

“My mother’s necklace! Aang, this is amazing! Thank you!” Katara lunged forward to hug Aang and pressed a kiss to his cheek before putting the necklace on.

Everyone settled down in the seats again and Kanna’s situation hit her fully. She was headed to the North Pole with Sokka, Katara, and Aang, and had no clue if she was going to see Zuko or Iroh again. The thought of never seeing either of them ever again pulled a sob out of her against her will. Sokka immediately pulled her into another hug.

“It’s okay, Kanna, we’ve got you. It’s all gonna be alright, I promise.”

Kanna cried into her brother’s shoulder and could only hope that somehow, he’d be right, and it would all work out. Someday.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm making the titles up as I go, so some are going to be better than others. In my drafts this is just labeled as 'Gaang takes Kanna' and I thought this title was at least better than that.
> 
> Anyway, I hope I did Sokka justice. I love his character so much, and I'm glad he got a little time to shine, even if it isn't a whole fic to himself. He'll probably get one later, but for now he had to share


End file.
